Topic Tuesday // BPD Awareness featuring SPECTRUM VIC // Tues 1 Oct, 7pm AEST

@Shaz51 @JulianSpectrum @Former-Member

I have a similar concern for one of our children.

I have been assured by councillors etc that he is fine but he is so much like his mum in every way. So much so in fact that darling is often triggered as she sees herself as a child.

I found DBT too prescriptive when I first did it. The second time I went through the course I was more in a headspace to learn. I found some of the work I was doing in schema therapy useful, especially around understanding myself better and my coping modes. I have been able to access intensive psychodynamic therapy which has helped lots. It’s been through this that my diagnosis changed.

Now I take bits and pieces from each therapy to cope better. I still have tipping points but not the completely wild crazy ride I was on previously.

@AndrewSpectrum I’ve done dbt for a year snd im still no better. It’s really difficult to practise when I get so caught up with my emotions and thoughts. People say I need to do more but I feel so lost. It’s not easy especially when I e been like this for years and years. It’s been ingrained in me since a child.

@roses1 I think it's the most challenging aspect of the recovery journey - is to simply start. This is true for many varying mental health challenges (even outside of BPD!). I am sorry to hear your son is resistent to help, it's a tricky one because only the affected person can make that decision.

You can always contact the SANE Helpline (open 10am-10pm) and ask one of our counsellors if they have any strategies on encouraging your son to get some support. The number is 1800 18 7263.

@Former-Member I have two books. One has things that I hear or read that help me. The other is where I write down what they "speak" to me and then that often goes on to all kinds of unrelated things. I have only had 3 appts with B and as yet have not shown her, but she has said that any time I feel I can share something I can take it and cover anything but what I want her to see. Am still not quite to that stage, but am thinking about it. The things written without thought can probably help counsellors etc understand where we are more than us trying to explain them later. I have not even read what I have been writing, but have just about got to the end of a large book

Good question too @Shaz51

@cutiepiekitty Feeling understood without judgement is such a powerful experience!

@JulianSpectrum

A life worth living must involve doing things i enjoy cause lets face it theres rarely been people in my life

So for me i prac singing. Im learning piano. Im doing aqua now & enjoying that.

The more of those things the less reactive hopefully & quicker to recover as i have things to pull me back to normal.

@Shaz51 An interesting, and complex, question! We know that, for some people, there can be a genetic component to the disorder. How great this component is can vary markedly between people. Further, the relationship between having the disorder and how it interacts with other family members can be very complex, that is, it's certainly not a foregone conclusion that it will be inherited as a problem for her grandchildren. From what I can see, some of the posts here are including examples of how having BPD does not mean that one's children automatically develop BPD, which is a helpful reminder!